A new report from the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) examines the positive influence of historically Black colleges and universities on not only African Americans’ success in STEM, but also the overall STEM industry of their state and the nation.
Using data from 2022–2023 academic year, the research team found HBCUs make up 9 percent of the four-year bachelor-degree-granting institutions across the 21 states and U.S. territories where they are located. In those states and territories, HBCUs enrolled 23 percent of all Black undergraduates pursuing bachelor’s degree at a college or university for the Fall 2022 semester, and they awarded 28 percent of STEM bachelor’s degrees earned by Black students that academic year.
The individual states where HBCUs awarded the most STEM bachelor’s degree in 2022–2023 were North Carolina (830), Alabama (540), Louisiana (497), Mississippi (492), and Georgia (483). That same year, the states and territories with the highest percentage of Black STEM bachelor’s degrees conferred at HBCUs were the U.S. Virgin Islands (100 percent), the District of Columbia (76 percent), Mississippi (60 percent), Alabama (51 percent), and Louisiana (50 percent).
“As historically under-resourced institutions that often serve students and families who have also been historically under-resourced, HBCU’s continue to outperform expectations and offer a return on investment that has been grossly underestimated,” said Walter Kimbrough, UNCF’s executive vice president of research. “UNCF calls for additional support for HBCUs as they continue to build out their capacity for STEM education. State, federal and philanthropic leaders must acknowledge that to meet the growing demand for highly skilled STEM professionals in this country. HBCUs are critical to our collective success. This report provides the data across a number of dimensions needed to say emphatically that HBCUs are still punching above their weight.”
The full report, Still Punching Above Their Weight: A Focus on HBCUs’ Indisputable Influence on the STEM Sector, provides a detailed overview for all 21 states and U.S. territories with HBCUs, detailing Black undergraduate enrollment, the number of Black STEM bachelor’s degrees awarded, and the economic contributions of these institutions.
